Kidnapper Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison

PHILADELPHIA - Basil Buie, 23, of Philadelphia, PA, was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for his role in a botched robbery and kidnapping that involved a jewelry store employee. Buie, a/k/a “Basil Tucker,” pleaded guilty on October 7, 2015 to conspiracy, kidnapping, and attempted Hobbs Act robbery. His two co-defendants - Khayree Gay and Salahudin Shaheed - also pleaded guilty.

Shaheed recruited Buie and Gay to rob National Watch and Diamond Exchange, at 101 S. 8th Street in Philadelphia to obtain luxury watches, jewelry, and money which Shaheed said could be found there. The defendants conducted surveillance of National Watch and its employees from a parking lot at 733 Chestnut Street, to identify and then, in disguise, abduct an employee from whom they would forcibly obtain keys, security codes, and the code to the company’s safe from which the robbers would steal luxury watches, jewelry, and money.

On April 4, 2015, the defendants watched an employee that Shaheed had targeted. When the employee entered the garage and approached her car, Shaheed and Buie, wearing masks, gloves, and sunglasses, confronted the victim, Shaheed assaulted her with a Taser, and they kidnapped her.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jeanine Linehan and Maureen McCartney.